


Wind In Our Sails

by Blueishfood



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Pirate, F/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:13:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23145988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blueishfood/pseuds/Blueishfood
Summary: Lily Evans, a young Lady of El Puerto Del Rey, meets Lucius Malfoy for the first time as she is promised to him. Malfoy is one of the few counts of Slytherin Island, a persuasive and revolting man. Miss Evans sees no way out of the nightmare her parents has landed her in. That is until the infamous Marauder, a known and feared pirate ship sailed by Captain James Potter, attacks Malfoy's ship on it's way to Lily's wedding. Lily sees and escape and grabs tight. But what happens as she tries to hide her identity from a bucket load of pirates, and one ever so mysterious Pirate Captain? What happens when she realizes James has played more than one role in her life, in which he certainly is not a pirate? And what happens when an enemy stronger than they have ever faced before meets them face to face?Find out the answers to the questions! Set sail with Lily Evans as she joins Captain James Potter and his mates in swashbuckling adventures of romance, mystery and lionhearted bravery.
Relationships: Alice Longbottom/Frank Longbottom, Dobby/Winky (Harry Potter), James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 17
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

A young man dragged a hand through his hair, enjoying the burn of the sun. His earlier white, now light yellow shirt snapped in the wind, and he popped open another button.

"We're wait'n for yer orders Cap'n!", one of the older members of the crew shouted, turning towards the man with a wicked look in his eyes.

"Aye, I know.", he answered resting his hand on the hilt of his sword. He heard the shouting from the pirates behind him and a pleased smirk spread across his lips. With his raven black hair whipping in the wind, he swirled around.

"Prepare the cannons, get ready to board." The captain grabbed the wheel, and grinned to his first mate. "And hoist them colors!"

* * *

**A few days earlier** :

A young woman stood on the balcony of her fathers house. She sighed heavily. With her hair flowing in the wind, she looked towards the stables. What she had not given for a ride now.

"Miss Lily? M- miss?" She turned her head towards her maid. The young girl looked concerned as she fidgeted with the sleeve of her pink dress.

"Yes Winky?" Lily looked curiously at her maid as she turned away from the setting sun. Winky glanced up at Lily, then back down to the floor.

"Your father and grandfather wants to talk to you," she muttered quietly.

One of Lily's eyebrows lifted and she squared her shoulders. "And why is that?"

"They did not tell me, I'm afraid." Winky looked at the ground, but Lily only shook her head.

"That's alright, Winky." Lily took in the large house in front of her and wondered what horrifying surprise her parents possibly could have waiting for her on the other side.

Winky lifted her large brown eyes to look at her Lady and said carefully, "Miss, if it is not my place to say; do tell, but I saw a man with them. He looked quite rich."

Lily frowned and found herself straightening without thinking about it. _A man she said_? Then, she turned her head towards Winky and smiled.

"Thank you. Where do they await me?"

"In the dining room miss, it's down the hall a- " Lily nodded to stop her sentence.

"I know my way around the house, Winky. You're dismissed." The maid curtsied and walked away.

Lily drew a large breath before walking down the hall, towards the three men. She knew this could bear nothing but bad news for her, but she forced herself to swallow the fear. An Evans never showed her emotions.

The dining room was large and white, the columns on each side decorated with gold, but Lily did not stop for a second to admire the beautifully done handwork. Three men were arguing in front of her. Before Lily could listen in on the conversation, the shouting promptly stopped, and her father gave her a warning look.

"Mr. Malfoy." He said to a man with long, white-washed blonde hair.

"I want you to meet my daughter; Lily Evans." The man took a few steps towards Lily and kissed her hand slowly.

"You're more beautiful than I could have imagined." Lily nodded politely, and carefully pulled her hand from his grip. She didn't know him, but he was clearly a man with connections. Like many of the men in her life, she had to be careful when she was around him. Her father cleaned his throat loudly, and Malfoy turned, slightly miffed, to look at him.

"Lily, your mother and I have decided that this man will become your..." he trailed off, hesitating before he uttered the word, but Lily knew what was coming. "...husband.", her father said, sounding defeated.

Lily tried to hide her rage, but a look crossed her face before she could catch it. How could they? How could they bind her to a man she had never spoken to? She didn't know if he was kind or cruel, at least if they chose the commodore, she would know he was an honest man.

Lily took a deep breath and nodded. Her parents would not have done this if they did not have to. Lily knew very well that if she uttered a word about her opposition in front of this man, her -now- fiancé; she would be punished hard. She did not say a word. She would say a lot after Malfoy was gone, but for now; she let him push the ring on her finger and talk shamelessly to her. As he said his goodbyes, he kissed her cheek, and Lily had to keep herself from retching in disgust.

"Someday soon, love; you are going to end up in my bed." He whispered to her. Lily closed her eyes to hide the tears of frustration. "I am looking forward to our next meeting, Miss Evans. You will not have any qualms of this marriage when I am done with you." His whispers were louder now, and Lily tried not to snap at him. 

She failed.

Lily slapped him as hard as she could, and felt his sideburns scratch against her palm.

Without any remorse Lily ran to the stables. She shouted at the stable boy who quickly fastened the seat on Moonlight. As Lily galloped away from the estate, she could hear her mother screeching after her. But the young Lady had to get away. Away from her life. She knew that she would have to return, but for now; she would like to forget.

* * *

"Do you even know what troubles you could have made?!"

Vivida Colarenta Evans talked fast and the air was filled with tension. She was mad. Mad at her daughter; with her father's red hair and therefore also his read-hair temper.

"Of course I know mother!" Lily's green eyes struck lightning. Those eyes could scare even the bravest of men, but Vivida Colarenta was not a man. 

"His words were shameful and I don't regret a single action." Vivida fumed in front of her daughter, but calmed herself so her words were low and completely in control.

"You shall thank the Lord that Mister Malfoy is a humble man, and forgave you." Lily laughed loud at her mothers words.

"Humble? My arse!" She scoffed and missed Vivida's eyes widening.

"Language!" She shrieked at her daughter, face reddening, but Lily ignored her. She turned her back to her mother and stabbed her dagger into her bedside table. It already had many marks from the same knife.

"The man probably said something like; _Oh she's just a wench! I'll get her to bed, you mark my words_!" Vivida did not answer Lily's statement, and so the redhead knew she was right. She stood up and pointed at her mother with the glinting knife in her hand.

"How could you bind me to such a cruel man?!" Vivida had no mercy left now, she stared at her daughter with no love in her eyes.

"You shall trust your parent's decisions!"

Lily was about to interrupt again, but Vivida silenced her with a harsh slap in the face. Lily clapped her hands to her cheek and looked at her mother with wide eyes. Vivida clenched her jaw.

"Why can you not be more like Petunia?! She was married willingly to Dursley and is now bearing his child!"

"I am _not_ Petunia!" The dagger hit the door with a thud and Vivida rolled her eyes.

"Yes I can see that.", she said, loathing lazing every word, "When she was playing with dolls; you went talking to that stable boy! You have _never_ been one of us."

Lily smiled bitterly. "And thank God for that."

Vivida blinked, ignored the comment and finished what she had come to say.

"Tomorrow, you will board Malfoy's ship, and sail to his land. The maids have already packed your bags."

Vivida walked out of the room, closed the door and flinched as she heard another dagger hit the wood behind her.

She had never understood Lily, the girl had always stayed with ether the horses or begged her father to teach her everything on his ships. It was almost as if she were a boy! Now that she got a husband who could buy her everything she wanted; was she not pleased? Vivida herself, had never disobeyed her parents orders, so why should Lily?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Words: 2,4 K

Lily was lying on her silk bed when the first servants carried in her suitcases. She tried not to let the tears fall, but couldn't stop them when she thought of her near future. She cried till her head was worn out and her eyes were red and puffy. Sometime in between; Winky came in to her room and tried to speak to her.

"M-miss, i must congratulate you on your engagement,", she flinched as Lily sobbed loudly. "M-Mister M-Malfoy is very rich, he will p-probably give you everything you w-want." Lily tried to sit, but settled for looking up at Winky from where she lay. She tried to force a small smile, but could not manage it.

"I hope you two find real love..." Winky whispered very quietly. Lily couldn't help but break back into tears. She already felt exhausted, but trying to stop herself from crying would drain her of even more energy.

"Oh! I-I am s-so sorry m-miss!" Winky was on the verge of tears; terrified that she had gotten her mistress to cry. She tried rubbing Lily's back carefully, but when the misses flung herself at tiny Winky and hugged her tightly, the maid had no idea what to do. Lily soaked both their dresses in tears, and did not recognize Winky's surprise nor her calming whispers.

"W-will you c-come with me?" Lily asked Winky between tears and hiccups. The maid's big eyes widened and she sat back a bit to see Lily's face. 

"Oh miss! I do not know if I am allowed." Lily dried her tears with a fleak of the light pink sheets under her and smiled at her maid.

"If I had you with me, I'm sure this would be much less terrifying, and do call me Lily." Winky smiled back at Lily. She stood up from the bed and nodded.

"I will ask the mistress, L- Lily." Lily laughed, her eyes glimmering.

"Don't be afraid of saying my name! We are friends, are we not?" Winky's smile grew to the size of the moon. She had never had a real friend in El Puerto del Rey before.

"Yes! Of course we are friends!" Winky stuttered, her smile wider than Lily had ever seen it. Lily smiled back and hugged her new friend again.

"And do me a favor and ask dad, not mum?" Lily laughed when Winky nodded fast and hurried out of the room. 

When Lily once again was left alone to think; she cried until nightfall, falling into a restless sleep in the bed dampened by her own tragedy.

**\-------------** _**Next day** _ **\---------**

Lily stood on the port, looking at the big ship owned by Malfoy. It was better to have Winky there, she had to admit, but she was still afraid that Malfoy was going to force her to bed her first day on the island. But he could not do that... could he?

Lily was seriously considering to run away then and there, but then Lucius saw her. He looked much older than her, she realized, maybe in his forties. Lily shuddered under his stare.

Lucius was standing on deck, looking down at her and Winky with a smirk. He shot them a wink. Lily ignored him, walking on board with her purse tightly gripped in her cold hands.

Every day from Lily was seven years old until she was twelve, she was on board her father's ships; learning everything, from tying ropes to standing at the wheel. She even learned how to use a sword. Her father believed she could do almost anything a man could do. She was surprised by the mere thought of him marrying her off to a random man. Either way, walking on board the ship, she felt more like herself than any other time during the last week.

Lily and Winky's room was not big. It was slightly crammed and much less exquisite than Lily was used to. Still, it was bigger than most rooms on the ship. It had two beds, one small closet, a window and a water bowl that was hammered to the wall. Lily was admiring the view of the ocean when Winky came down to their room and smiled at her.

"It is going to be okay, miss." Lily nodded and glanced at Winky. 

"One would think so," she answered, and looked back out. Winky saw the sore spot and changed the subject. She walked over to Lily and glanced out at the glittering water.

"Do you know where we are going, miss?"

"I do. But I would rather go with a pirate than going where we are headed." Lily sighed and were not even amused when Winky staggered backwards. She had not thought of how her friend would react to the word _pirate_ , not many dared say that word.

"I know where it is, yes.", Lily muttered, slowly sitting down on the bed. "He is a cruel man, he lives on an cruel island. We are sailing towards Slytherin island." Winky gasped.

She had heard of Slytherin island, everybody had. It was an island where even the noblest of women drank, and they served the most vile of kings; King Voldemort. They said that he was a king, but everybody knew he was a pirate. 

There were good and bad pirates, Winky knew because she had worked on one of the better pirate ships once. King Voldemort was the worst, and Slytherin island was the worst _pirate port._

_\---------------------_

After three days on board the ship; Lily was going mad. She could not hide _anywhere_! Every time she wanted to be alone, Malfoy would come and talk to her to get _to know her better._ Yeah, right, Lily thought, more like getting to know the underside of her skirt better. 

The only way Lily could get away from Malfoy was by talking to the crew, or standing in the birds nest because he was afraid of heights. Lady Lily would stay up there for hours, waiting for the sun to go down and for Malfoy to retreat to his cabin. There was not much to entertain her in the birds nest except from the occasional sailor on duty. Lily often busied herself by singing a song she had heard on a pub she had visited with her father once. He realized his mistake when Vivida attacked him with her sandal the morning after, but Lily had still gotten to experience life outside her boring mansion. 

_"We're rascals, scoundrels, villains, and knaves_  
 _Drink up me hearties, yo ho",_ Lily sang, giggling to herself quietly.

_"We're devils and black sheep, really bad eggs_   
_Drink up me hearties, yo ho_   
_Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me._ _"_

"Is bad luck singin' 'bout pirates." Lily pushed herself from the railing she had been standing on and looked at the man who talked to her. She had been able to retire back to the main deck after seeing Malfoy return to his quarters. She had figured she would be almost alone at this hour of the evening, but Lily had not been able to sense the man that was now standing before her.

He had a big crooked nose and long black hair, but that was not the most attention seeking detail about the man. He had lost one leg and an eye, in addition to the scars on his face. In short, the man looked like he had been in a sword-fight against ten people, and lost. He was Lily's imagination come to life. The picture perfect idea of an old pirate.

"They sail these waters, all of em. You wouldn't want _him_ comin' after us, now would ye?" Lily shook her head fast, even though she did not know who he spoke of. 

"Alastor Moody, pleasure to meet your acquaintance, miss." The man took her hand and shook it firmly.

"Lily Evans.", Lily said, and pulled her hand back to her side. Alastor grinned slightly and asked her if she still held on to her old name.

"I am an Evans until I officially marry Malfoy." She stated stubbornly. Looking back to the ocean bathing in sun, she sighed.

"Not a happy arrangement I wager?" He placed his arms on the railing beside her.

"Not my arrangement.", Lily countered, without taking her eyes off the waves.

Alastor would have given a witty reply as always, had it not been for the fact that he was no longer focused on the miss. He saw a ship in the horizon. 

It was not big enough for the normal eye to see, but his eye had been trained for a long time, so he saw it. The Marauder. Filled with the phoenix order; he guessed. The best fighters in the known world, and pirates without qualms of killing. Moody already hated the captain of Serpent's Head, and the crew were terrible fighters. The Marauder would win easily. 

But, hey, it would be fun to look at, and Moody would have a front row seat.

"Should we call for the captain?" Lily watched the ship with a careful eye. ' _She has good eyes_.' Moody thought. 

With enough of a warning, the Serpent's Head might be able to out run the Marauder. Moody glanced at Lily, and realized she didn't seem more in favor of Malfoy winning than Moody was.

"Rather not..." he answered after a while. Lily lifted an eyebrow, but didn't call down to any of the crew.

"I've always been Cap'n of this ship.", Moody explained, "I won't give that title away to some city kid with money." Lily's eyes widened, but she nodded and Moody thanked some foreign sea goddess he wouldn't have to knock her out. He rather liked this girl.

"That title is supposed to be earned.", Lily agreed, and turned back to look at the ever closing ship.

"They have hoisted their colors. It's a pirate ship.", she stated, seemingly not concerned of the fact. Moody nodded. 

"Good eye.", he muttered. Glancing down to see if anyone had noticed the threat except from them. A few minutes passed, and now the ship was a threatening shadow on the horizon. A few of the men had picked up on the fact, but they all saw Malfoy and decided not to do anything about it.

"I'll wager they will be able to reach us no matter what now, don't you?" Moody pulled out his telescope and measured the speed of the Marauder. Finally he nodded his yes to the woman beside her.

"I won't bet against you, miss.", he said, as he headed for the quarterdeck. "Better lock up safe and sound, Evans. This is looking to be one hell of a fight." Lily saluted the former Captain with two fingers, and laughed as she heard his commandos echo behind her retreating form.

" _Constant vigilance, men! N' give me that bottle o' rum, I'm going to need it._ " 

  
"Winky!" Lily shouted for her maid as she ran down the slippery hallway. She felt her heart pound in her ears like the boots on the deck above her. She heard shouting and stepped out of the way as five armed soldiers marched past her on their way to the battle. The Marauder had yet to reach them as Lily did not hear any canons, but she figured she did not have much time.

"Winky!", Lily shouted again, more desperate this time than the last.

"Miss?" Lily did not have time to correct her on using her name, she just took Winky's elbow and dragged her towards Timmy's cabin. 

Timmy was one of the crew members she had gotten to know better. There were many members, and Lily was certain she had yet to talk to all of them, that was why she figured her plan would work.

"What are we doing here, Miss?", Winky asked, hesitating before stepping into the cabin. Timmy was about 16, he was the youngest worker and therefore had the clothes that would fit Lily the most. He wouldn't be mad if she borrowed some clothes of him, would he? Probably not.

"Lily, what a-are you doing?" Lily sighed, did Winky really not understand?

"Borrowing some clothes from Timmy. Take these on." Lily said, throwing some black breeches and a plain white shirt at Winky. Then she threw on some for herself and sat course for the weapon storage.

"Miss? Why are we doing this?" Winky asked as she tied a belt around her waist and tried to keep up with her Lady.

"Because I want to fight and because we do not want to be kidnapped by pirates." Winky's eyes got big as plates. Thankfully she understood the situation and nodded. 

"Right," she muttered, and looked at the closed door in front of them, "armory." Lily tried to open the door, but it was firmly shut. "Damn it," she growled, and tried smashing her shoulder to the piece of wood. Lily found out she did not weigh nearly enough. 

Winky shoved her away rather forcefully, and picked a few needles out of her up-do. Lily watched Winky work with a surprised look on her face, but didn't ask. She knew Winky's earlier occupations had been less than honorable. 

When Winky opened the door, Lily grabbed the first two swords she saw. She threw one of them to Winky who caught it with ease. Lily stopped only for a millisecond to allow a fraction of a frown to form on her face. She knew that all the workers in her dad's house were trained for emergencies, but she did not know that they were this good.

The two girls nodded to each other and with an excited smile, Lily sprinted up on deck. Winky f on followed on her heals. Cannon shots could be heard over their heads just before they arrived at the scene. Lily felt the ship rock from the force and she could only separate a single shout from the mayhem. 

" _Board the ship_!" 

When Lily finally stepped outside, the first thing she layed eyes on were the dead bodies sprawled around. The nauseating sight made her want to puke. Was it really smart to fight grown men? Lily knew she was good, but out here it was life or death. If she lost, she would not get a new chance like she did when she trained with her dad.

Lily snapped back to the reality when Winky elbowed her in the side. Her eyes calmed Lily. She knew then, Winky would be by her side.

 _What's wrong with me? Woman up!_ Lily straightened her back and charged into battle. She picked up the hat of one of the few fallen pirates and put it on her own head. Pushing it down to hide her face, she smirked and drew her sword; "Let's fight."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Words: 1.9 K

Lily threw herself into the fight, slightly confused. She had not thought of the conundrum of which side she was on before she had decided on this plan. 

She hated Malfoy and his master. She was thankful for the pirates for stopping her journey to further doom, but at the same time she did not know these people. They were fighting with profit as the only goal. The obviously had no qualms against killing, and they were fighting some of her friends, brutally. She wasn't on their side, but she also knew she could under no circumstance be on Malfoy's side.

Lily decided to fight on both sides. She fought her way past men of all sizes, stabbing and slashing them down. But she was stopped by a sword; clinging with her own.

"Lily, get back down!" Lily looked up and saw Malfoy's furious glare behind her blade. He pushed her back a few steps, but Lily shook out of her stupor and stood her ground.

"Fuck off, Malfoy." He scoffed at her words, and pulled back his sword. 

"Leave now or you will regret it.", he growled, pointing his sword in her direction. 

Lily drew her sword back as well, faking defeat. When he relaxed slightly she slashed at his shoulder. She was happy to see that she drew blood.

"That's for forcing me to bloody marry you!" He took a step back, his eyes big and filled with surprise.

She cut towards him again, but this time he blocked the advance. Lily spotted a grimace of pain and felt an ounce of satisfaction. 

"Don't do this." There was a venom in his voice, venom that told her if she let him go now, he would kill her without a thought. Lily spat in his face. 

"Watch me."

She attacked twice in a row. Malfoy sidestepped one and blocked the other. 

"Wench.", he growled and blocked again. They danced back and forth, the sound of metal clinging against metal filled the air.

In a fit of inspiration, Lily drew her sword back. She pirouetted like she had done in ballè for years while dropping to a crouch. Quick as a whasp, she pulled out her dagger and pierced the air. She aimed for his foot. When she hit something, Lily tugged her weapon back before he could hack down on her hand.

Lily was to fast for Malfoy to block. He was injured and forced into a corner in less than a second. When Malfoy hit the railing, holding on to it for support, he knew that he had lost. 

"Go on then, kill me." When Lily hesitated; he smirked.

"Was it not what I suspected? Lily Evans is too soft to kill a man." He desperately clung to the railing but was still too proud to let that bloody grin slip.

Lily shoved her elbow towards him fast, and hit Malfoy in the face. She heard his nose crack, and was satisfied to be the one left grinning. With a swift kick, he flew over the side of his own ship. Lily knew that she hadn't killed him, but she had definitely wounded his ego.

When she turned around she saw the five men from her own crew that was still living. They had just dropped their weapons in defeat. Surprisingly enough, Lily had been too busy to see the fight stopping. She glinted Winky and Moody joining the line that the pirates had ordered.

Still gloating in the glory of her win; Lily pulled her hat down a bit to hide her feminine face and sauntered over to join Malfoy's- now Moody's crew. Lily tucked her sword in her belt and smiled at the proud looking Moody.

"Thank's for gettin' back me ship, 'lad'" Lily's smile grew wider as she understood that Moody clearly saw through her costume. "Would have liked giving him that finishing blow myself." They laughed.

"Shut it all 'a yeh! Captain's speakin'!" A tall, firmly built man with black curly hair hiding almost his entire face looked towards the lot of them with a scowl before letting another man come through. Lily did not see more than his dark leather shoes while trying to hide her face. 

"Men! You have lost." The man's voice was clear. Not dark and brooding nor too light to be threatening. It seemed perfectly fit for giving out orders. The man slowly walked past the line, and looked at the faces of the survivors. 

"You have two choices." He said loud and clear as his boots scraped the deck. "Join my crew..." he stopped as he continued; "...or fight my best man." At that point the whole pirate crew laughed loudly. "By losing, you will die." Not one voice broke the silence that followed. "But by winning, you will earn your freedom."

"I've already been in your crew, so does that disqualify me or...?" A voice Lily knew well spoke up from the line. "Winky?" The Captain asked. Winky threw off her hat, waved and giggled.

"Welcome on board miss, would you like to go see your fiancé?" A man of the crew said and let out a bark like laughter as he pushed a lanky man towards Winky. She laughed happily and followed him under the deck of the Marauder. 

Wow, did she just forget me? Lily asked herself, almost too surprised to register that Winky had a pirate fiance. The Captain looked just as surprised before he asked as a joke if it was anybody else he knew that was hiding in the crew. Imagine his bewilderment when another stepped forward.

"Mad-eye?! What the bloody hell are you doing here?!" Moody snickered at the Captains shout and answered; "Spying." 

"Well get on the ship you bloody dog!" The Captain laughed and pushed Moody into the crew. Before Moody could be swept off by the crowd, however, he stopped for a second, looking towards Lily with a concerned glance. She gave a badly convincing wink to let him know that she was okay, but he seemed to take the hint and joined the crew.

Lily quietly weighed her options. She could join the crew and keep her identity a secret. Pirates did not respect women but more importantly, she was certain they would more than appreciate the wealthy soon to be wife of their enemy to work on their ship. Lily rolled her eyes at the mere thought of revealing herself. That was stupid.

She could of course gain her freedom by fighting the best man of the crew. She was pretty certain that she could hold her own against almost any man, but she did not know this enemy. Usually she would be able to study them beforehand, and to figure out their tricks. Besides, what did she have when she gained her freedom? Nothing. 

She decided for the first option. Keeping her identity a secret seemed to be the best choice of action at the moment. The rest of Malfoy's crew decided to join as well. 

When it became Lily's turn, and the captain asked what her choice was; she gave him her answer.

"And what was your position on the ship?" Lily thought about what her father had said about her ability on a ship before answering in a broken accent. 

"A bit of everything cap'n." 

"And what were you best at?" 

"Me dad always said I had the eyes of a hawk, but I have other qualities too." The captain nodded, and after talking to everyone of the crew members he smirked at the Marauders crew; 

"And then to your favorite part men!" He flung his arms towards Malfoys ship. "Enjoy."  
The men cheered, jumped over to the other ship and searched for treasure.

"Lad! You'll show me where your captain stowed the best of his gold." Lily understood fast enough that the Captain was talking to her. She ran ahead of him, nodding her head quickly, she knew of a few places.

"Here Captain." Lily pointed at the locked door at the bottom of the ship. The Captain kicked the door open and walked in. 

"Potter, I'm Captain James Potter," he said without looking at her. "...but at the Marauder I'm called Prongs." Lily nodded as he inspected the gold and diamonds.

"Ship was going to Slytherin Island, was it?", James scoffed as his eyes scanned the expensive treasures. Lily only nodded. "Why were you on the ship, boy?" James turned to look at her with eyes filled with... well, she did not really understand what it was. 

"Oh, um, only looking for a good enough payed job Cap'n!" she answered, trying not to sound like a complete liar.   
The Captain eyed her warily from her saggy trousers to her slightly too big shirt. She let out a breath to make her chest look smaller, and smirked confidently at her Captain.

"Did you need the money?" The curious gaze of her Captain made it difficult to lie, and she told the truth... well some of it. 

"Yeah... I had some... issues and I needed the money to... get away, kind of." It was more like family issues, and she needed to run away, not that she had ever done as she needed but... it was some of the truth, right?

Captain Potter nodded slowly, and tried to discretely bow to see her face, but Lily pushed the brim of her hat longer down. 

"Name and age." he commanded, straightening again. He turned back to the riches behind him.

Bugger, she hadn't thought of that. 

"N-name?" She squeaked, James quirked an eyebrow. 

"Do you not remember your own name, lad?" Lily nodded fast while thinking. 

"It's Lee, Lee Brown." Lee wasn't that far from Lily right? She could do this. "I'm 16, sir."

"And may I see your face?" Realizing the mocking tone in his words for what it was, Lily knew Potter would not take a no for a no. She shoved a few red hairs back up into the hat, and pushed the brim back slightly. Making sure to frown a bit so her face looked more boyish, she looked up at her Captain.

He nodded sharply. 

"Give me a summary of the treasures this ship holds Brown." Lily looked down at her shoes, and thought of all the rooms she had ran in to to avoid Malfoy.

"Diamonds, I figured some are fake, but mostly real. There is a bit gold and a lot of silver, and there are many expensive dresses. Malfoy was picking up his bride." James looked confused at Lily, he had not seen another woman than Winky on board the ship.

"Where is the bride?" he asked a bit louder than expected, looking a bit alarmed. Lily shrugged, she had to become better at lying somehow. 

"Haven't seen her Cap, no gal's been picked up yet." The Captains shoulders sunk with relief, and he nodded, all traces of emotion clean off his face.

"Well, I'll make the crew get all of this." Potter bowed down and lifted up a few suitcases. Lily looked strangely at him, would not the Captain choose the most expensive gold? She wasn't about to ask of his strategic choices, she was sure he would have a reason for hoarding dresses anyway.

"Take those." He said nodding at three more suitcases and left the room.

Lily sighed happily as she picked them up. She was free from Malfoy, from marriage, and she was on the ocean. To get kidnapped by pirates was one of the best things that could have happened to her!  
Maybe this was what they called destiny.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Words: 1.7 K
> 
> Warning(s): none
> 
> A/N: This chapter is a bit slow going, but we needed to know the characters a bit more. The next chapter will be the (real) start of our plot.

After a few days of working on The Maraudrer, Lily's hands were starting to get rougher. Moody had told her that if she worked hard, he would not tell anybody about her. She was pretty certain he would not tell anyways but decided to keep up the work for his sake.

Lily favoured manning the ropes. She liked opening and tying knots, standing on the edge of the ship and watching the horizon. This pirate life was something alright. If it wasn't for the identity-hiding, she would have joined them for good. Lily knew, however, that if she were to be discovered, all hope would be lost. Therefore, she had to get off the boat at the next port.

Winky didn't agree with Lily's decision. The former maid no longer worked for her, so she had decided to speak her mind to her lady. Lily had tried to avoid getting in fights, but Winky, ever so sweet, could really get on her nerves.

"I just think you should tell the captain! He's a good man." Lilly rolled her eyes, and sat down on Winky's bed. 

"He's a pirate, Winky, they're scoundrels." Slightly hurt, Winky looked away. Lily slowly stood and walked over to the window. She put a small hand on her friend's frail shoulder and smiled.

"You know I trust you, Wink. You have always been there for me." Winky nodded and smiled. "I just do not trust him." Lily finished, frowning slightly.

"I'll always be loyal to you, Miss." 

Before they could lean into a hug, the door was flung open. The two friends startled apart, and Lily was only partly surprised to see Dobby in the door frame. Dobby was Winky's fiance, and he had been scowling at Lily every time she got near Winky. Even though Lily would have avoided it, it was no surprise that Dobby had finally caught them. Dobby's face was red as a beet and his mouth was set in a firm line. 

Winky stood quickly and took a few steps away from Lily.

"Hi sweetie! I haven't seen you all-" Dobby shoved Winky away from his arm, his eyes never left Lily. Her hat was still on, and Lily knew how it looked. He took three harsh steps forward and slammed Lily into the wooden cabin wall, holding her there by the hem of her shirt.

"What the hell are you doing with my fiancé?" It was almost not a question, simply a statement he wanted a response to. Unsurprisingly the response he was waiting for was a bad one. 

"Sir, I'm sorry but you must have misunderstood." She put her hands in front of her in surrender. Dobby simply slammed Lily back to the wall. Winky shot forward and grabbed Dobby's shoulder to stop him, but he shrugged her off.

"The hell I did." he grumbled, angrily. "She said she would always be loyal to you! How long has this been going on?" Lily rolled her eyes under her hat and sighed.

"Nothing has been going on, sir, I swear-" 

"Don't you dare! At least have some honour!" Dobby let go of her shirt and stepped back. "Look me in the eyes and tell me the damn truth." 

He reached for her and Lily's hat was off before she realized what he was doing. 

Her long red hair fell graciously down to her hip and Lily could do nothing to stop it. 

Dobby turned completely silent. 

Lily closed her eyes and waited for the judgement, waited for him to run to the captain. He stumbled a step back, then another. Collapsing on the bed in slow motion, he almost looked physically wounded. When he managed to rip his eyes away from Lily and her hair, he dragged a hand over his face slowly.

"By Davy Jones Locker." He murmured after a while. Winky had almost bit her lip to blood but Lily stood firm as a cliff, arms crossed. "Why didn't you just tell me, cookie?" Winky stopped chewing her lip and started fidgeting with her sleeve.

"I'm sorry, but I swore to Lily that i wouldn't." 

"But by Cracken, Winky! I wouldn't have told anyone you're gay!" Dobby flared up, but soon fizzled out like a balloon. "I would have helped you-" He looked from Winky to Lily who both were standing wide-eyed, staring at him. "I, I just wish you wouldn't have used me like that." 

Lily guffawed loudly, and that was the tale of how Dobby found out of the arrangement.

Lily’s favourite part of working on the ship was night-time. Few crewmembers wanted to take the watch shifts, so she could change with them and stay up in the crows’ nest alone. She loved it. The wind in her hair, the salt in the air and the beautiful glittering evening sky. In the night, it was also harder to see her face. Less people to hide from. Sometimes she would watch the crew from her spot in the nest. Other times, she would climb the ropes, swing and balance until she was wet with sweat and exhaustion. Most times she would do both. 

Lily breathed out and let her back be supported by the mast. This night was clear of clouds. The sky was almost bright with stars. Lily had never been outside on a ship, in the middle of the ocean at night. It was not the same as watching the stars from her port where she would barely register them behind columns of smoke and the dizzy light from the mansion. But this, this was like a treasure. Lily could see why these pirates loved the sea so much. 

She glanced back down and was surprised to see that Captain Potter had left his post. He usually stood by the wheel day and night, a compass in hand, and a weary eye on the horizon. He always seemed suspicious and would not even glance away if someone spoke to him while he saw dark clouds in the distance. 

Lily found him to be a strange man. Sometimes he sounded more confident in himself than some of the gentlemen Lily had known from back home. Other times she would have described him as… frightened. Of-course she waved the idea off as soon as she thought of it. He was not only a pirate; James Potter was the pirate. He was feared and hunted. The commodore of the marauder was the stuff of legends, and yet he seemed too young for the stories she had heard of at banquets. Her friends used to tell stories about a pirate, adored by women but deadly as a bomb and sharp as a sword. They had giggled about it then, a few had even jokingly suggested getting kidnapped by Mr. Potter himself, which, at the time, had not seemed like such a bad idea. 

Lily folded her hat slightly and stuffed it in her belt as she tried to spot the infamous captain. It was awfully warm on the Caribbean Sea. She had yet to see him kill a man and seduce a woman, but he didn’t seem like a man too proud to do either. 

In a desperate attempt to ignore her weird stray of thoughts, Lily took a gulp of the small bottle of rum she kept in her left pocket. It had been gifted to her by one of the older crewmembers. He claimed it to be an essential for every pirate and she happily agreed. She needed an escape from this frustratingly amazing pirate life.

A tap on Lily’s shoulder made her jump a little. She turned around, startled, to find Sirius Black behind her. Black was the first mate on the Marauder, and infamous for his strict regime when trying to keep order. 

With a betraying blush, Lily stuffed her bottle in her back pocket and grinned not so convincingly. Sirius rolled his eyes and held out a hand. 

Slowly Lily handed the flask over as she tried not to look like guilty was written on her forehead, the first mate took a sip of the beverage. He gave her a sly grin and tossed the rum back to her.

“They gave you some of the good stuff, huh?”, he laughed, and Lily didn’t know what to answer. He waved his hand in her direction and leaned back against the mast she had abandoned for the railing. 

“Yeah, yeah. You’re no longer on Malfoy’s terrible slug of a boat.” Sirius threw his head back and closed his eyes. “Fuck that no drinking on the shift rule.” He opened one eye and Lily smiled slightly. 

“As long as you’re not piss drunk, you’re alright to get some warmth into those thin bones of yours.”

“Thanks.” Lily muttered and sat down. 

“Why did you come up here then, if not to cut off me fingers?”, she asked, letting a grin slip past her careful façade. Sirius chuckled and took a swig of something of his own.

“Didn’t anybody tell you these are the best seats in the house?” Lily couldn’t help but agree, as they both stared at the constellations. 

“You on watch for the captain?”, Lily asked. She tried not to sound suspicious, but Sirius didn’t seem to mind the question. He nodded.

“You keep a good eye on your new colleagues?” It was more of a statement, so Lily didn’t respond. 

“He’s always looking for something.”, she said instead, and turned to look at the man beside her. He had closed his eyes. 

“He has to,”, he muttered, “he’s the captain.”.

“What is he afraid of?” Sirius opened an eye and sized Lily up and down.

“You’re a curious little think, aren’t you?”

“I’m not little.”, she answered. She was a perfectly normal sized girl, she was in fact a bit taller than average, if she said so herself.

“No, of course not…”, he trailed off, and grinned, “runt.” 

Lily rolled her eyes and waited as a breeze ruffled her now short hair. 

“Everything.”, Sirius answered after a while, as he pulled out a roll of paper and a few leaves. He put the leaves in the paper and rolled it to a slim cylinder. Then he fished up a pair of matches and lit the tube on fire.

“Aren’t pirate captains supposed to be afraid of nothing?” Lily asked after denying an offer to try what he called “a new invention”.

“If you’re afraid of nothing, you’re dim witted.” -He blew out a puff of smoke, and Lily watched as it trailed off in the dark night- “There are a great many things to be feared in the ocean.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Words: 2.5 K
> 
> Warning(s): Fighting
> 
> A/N: Now this is the plot I was telling you about.

The captain was drunk. 

His first mate was avoiding the cabin, that was the first sign. Then, when Winky was shouted out of his cabin for bringing food, Lily really understood what was going on. 

This drinking had been going on for some while now. Apparently, according to the other pirates, it wasn’t normal when it came to captain Potter. It had only started after the attack on Malfoy’s ship, but  
this day was particularly bad. She had heard bottles breaking every time she walked past his door. 

Lily had been trying to find a secure location to fix up her bindings, which came loose every now and then, when Potter opened his door to see her standing outside. He reeked of rum, and his eyes were unfocused. She watched as he swayed with the waves in his doorframe. He lent forward, grabbed her jaw so that she would look at him and sighed. 

“Right,” he poked her nose, “It’s you, Runt.” Lily frowned at the nickname and took a step away. He reeked of rum. 

Potter looked like he had forgotten what he was supposed to do and walked back into his cabin. Right before the door swung shut, he turned around with a finger in the air. He stopped the door with a surprisingly steady foot and put a hand on Lily’s shoulder. 

“Will you please get me another bottle of rum?” His words slurred, but Lily nodded to him with wide eyes.

“Yes, captain.” She turned around, stopped, and glanced back at the intoxicated man, “sit tight.”, she commanded, before she sprinted down the hall.

Lily returned with two green bottles. Sirius had opened the rum cellar for her and stuffed the two bottles in her arms before she could object. “He’s better off sleeping,” the first mate muttered and walked away. Seemed he didn’t like the drunk version of his best friend.

Potter was fiddling with the papers on his desk when Lily walked in. She didn’t manage to see what they held, but it seemed awfully important to him. Perhaps she could manage sneaking back when he was sleeping off the booze. 

“Thank you…” -he picked one bottle out of her grip and popped it open- “very much.” 

Lily nodded, placing the other bottle on the edge of his desk. When she was about to leave, however, a hand stopped her.

“Boy,” the Captain was still looking at his new bottle, pulling her back to his desk at the same time. “Tell me, did you see the knife?” Lily frowned. 

“Knife?” She knew of many knifes on this ship but had no idea what the Captain was on about. She could see him frowning at his own sentence and waited as he gathered his thoughts.

“Not knife,” he gestured to the papers on his desk, “wife. The wife.” 

Lily froze. Did he know? How could he have known? 

Had he seen her somewhere? Did someone let the secret slip, and if so, why hadn’t he already killed her? Slowly she lifted her eyes, they were like lead in her sockets. After an eternity she was able to see the captain again. She hoped beyond hope that the tears in her eyes weren’t visible.

But the captain wasn’t looking at her. He had turned around. Potter took another swig of the bottle and muttered a few curses. 

“The wife of that serpent… slug eating… man hunting savage… bloody death eater… disgusting rat,” it was impossible to hear every word, but from the looks of it, James Potter hated Malfoy more than he let on. Which meant that his hatred for Lily would be just as great. If not worse.

He turned back to her and gestured to the papers again. Lily had not dared look at them yet, but now he was encouraging her to. 

“Have you seen her? Anywhere?” 

Lily’s eyes landed on her own face. Younger than she was now. Happier. She had never seen that drawing before. It was drawn in simple coal, and it featured a ten-year-old Lily Evans, grinning with flowers in her hair.

She let out a small gasp. Potter didn’t seem to hear.

“She is older now. In her twentieth winter or something.” Lily was not able to respond. Her head was full of questions. How had he gotten that drawing? Why did he need to find her? Who was this man?

“She was getting married to that rat… that, that snake. And he works for…” he trailed off, completely forgetting what he was talking about and starting a new conversation. Lily tried listening carefully to his drunken ranting, but it was hard to catch the words.

“If he gets hold of the girl… the girl.” He turned around suddenly, as if seeing Lily for the first time, and said, “This war, I don’t want a war, runt.” She could see the dull glint in his eyes, and knew he wasn’t entirely gone. 

This talk couldn’t be just rubbish, but war? There had not been war, real war in this region for years now. Pirate squabbles and attacks happened, yes, but never all out war.

“Boy!” His hair was wild. Lily had not seen it before now, but it stuck out in all angles. 

“Did you see her?” His voice hit the damp wooden walls like crashing waves, his eyes were darker than when she had brought him the rum. They seemed more focused, but also a lot angrier. She could count the drops of sweat on his forehead. 

“I didn’t see her, sir. As I said, no woman was picked up, Captain.” The sentence sounded forced, the lump in her throat was becoming hard to keep down.

The Captain’s shoulders slumped. He sighed heavily and sat down on the wooden chair beside his desk. His grip on the rum was loose. Lily decided to stand awkwardly in the middle of the room, not knowing if she was dismissed or not.

“Can I ask why you are looking for her, Captain?” she muttered after a while, his heavy breathing becoming too much and too little for her to listen to. His anger was gone now, and when he looked at her Lily could only see defeat. He swallowed heavily, pushing a few strands of dark hair from his sweat-covered forehead.

“I knew her.” Potter was stopped by the door busting open. Lily straightened her back like a plank and turned to the intruder. The growl that slipped from Sirius lips told Lily to get out. She didn’t hesitate.

She did not know James Potter, a pirate from the seven seas. She had almost never been allowed to travel by the ocean, and she had certainly never been acquainted with pirates. The Captain was lying, that was certain, but why would he feel the need to lye to a young sailor? Lily had always thought people tended to be more truthful when they were drunk, but this clearly wasn’t the case with Potter.  
Whatever he was hiding, Lily was going to figure it out.

When dinner was served, Lily was about to collapse from exhaustion. The sun had been shining harshly today, hitting them like a whip whether they worked or not. But with the shining ball dipping into the ocean, light red clouds coloring the horizon, the crew placed themselves all over the deck. Bowls in their lap, they lent on the railing or sat on barrels in the welcome shade.

When Lily had gotten her share of food, she sat down next to Alice and Frank. 

Frank Longbottom was one of the larger men in the crew, he seemed like the exact opposite of quaint Alice Prewitt, but somehow, they fit perfectly. They were apparently a thing; Lily just hadn’t had the time to notice. 

Frank was poking his bit of salted beef while Alice gnawed at her ship biscuit. Lily took a bite of the meat and frowned. 

“This tastes like-” Lily stopped and glanced up at Alice who was lifting an eyebrow. She re phrased the sentence; “It’s edible.” 

Frank snorted.

“Barely,” he coughed heavily behind a large hand and Alice punched his shoulder. They laughed for a moment while Dobby and Winky joined them.

“Shut up,” Alice rolled her eyes at Frank’s grinning, “it’s all I can work with at the moment.” Lily didn’t miss the scowl Alice directed at the oblivious Captain. 

Thankfully he had slept off the liquor and was now back to working his load. Apparently, no one knew what it was about, but the crew weren’t happy.

“Have you heard about the recruiting?” Lily looked at Dobby who was currently speaking through a mouthful of food. It didn’t seem like he minded the slight aroma of mould. Alice looked pleased.

“Recruiting?” Lily asked while Winky was scolding her husband for the indecency. Dobby nodded, leaning forward to spill the gossip. 

“Someone is collecting votes to become captain.” Dobby looked at each one of them individually, hunting for reaction. Frank laughed, arms stretching to the light blue sky.

“Potter has been captain for years,” -he stabbed his knife in the table as if it was normal- “he’s well liked.” 

There was a short silence broken by Winky.

“It has been a while since his last successful raid.”

“You think that’s enough?” Lily asked, still new to this pirate life. Winky shrugged in response. They once again ate in silence.

“Who is it?” Lily’s question was directed at Dobby. He grabbed a hold of the railing he was sitting on, and leaned back, balancing on the wood. 

“Well who do you think?” he asked, swinging one leg over the railing. Lily looked for answers in the group, but they all avoided her gaze. She shrugged. Dobby rolled his eyes like it was obvious. 

“Black.” 

Lily frowned. That didn’t seem believable.

“He’s the Captain’s best friend, is he not?” Alice sighed at Lily’s guess, picking up her plate.

“They often are,” she said before leaving. Winky had started picking on her sleeve nervously. 

“They say you only get to know the identity of the recruiter after you have claimed Prongs to be an unfit Captain,” Dobby stated, and picked an uneaten piece of meat from Winky’s plate, chewing on in thoughtfully. “But Padfoot is the only one who could gather enough votes, the only one with enough experience and trust...” 

Black called for Dobby from the quarterdeck, and Dobby shrugged at Lily before he left, 

“It’s only logic.” 

And he was right. It was only logic, but for some reason this logic seemed off. Lily didn’t know yet how or why.

Before Lily could place her dishes in water, she was slammed to the mast. She felt her back pop in several places and howled. 

“What the hell!” she shouted, looking up, only to stare into the eyes of her Captain. Potter was looking all sorts of furious; she could see the veins in his neck on the verge of popping.

“You lying son of a whore!” he roared, looking like he wanted to carve her up and feed her to the sharks. 

While trying to push down her fear, Lily glared at him. She felt her eyes well up at the pain against her wishes. She respected Potter as a Captain, but this was taking it a step too far. 

The crew had gathered around them quickly when discovering the commotion. Lily saw Winky shooting up from her seat, hands over her mouth in shock. 

“What are you playing at, Potter?” she spat his last name out like filth, but he didn’t seem to be able to grow any angrier. Dobby shot forward, trying to pry the captain away from her, but the rest of the crew pulled him back.

“You told me you didn’t pick her up!” he shouted, his hands tightening on her shirt. Lily tried saying something, but her words seemed stuck to her throat. Her stuttering was drowned in the noise of the crowd. “So why is this snake,” he violently shoved a man standing beside him to the ground, “telling me you did?” She recognized the man, his name was Mikey, he taught her a knife trick while on board Malfoy’s ship. But alas, he had not recognized her.

“Lying to the Captain is breaking the code.” The voice of Sirius Black sounded darker than she had heard it before. His gaze when he broke from the crowd burned like liquid fire. They were all watching her, scrutinizing her, Lily felt like screaming. 

“And breaking the code means…” he trailed off, Lily watched as Frank growled at the mere suggestion while she still didn’t understand, “death.” Lily flinched.

“Take off your hat,” -The Captain fished up a knife, lightly pressing the cold metal right under her chin- “so I can look into your eyes when I slit your throat.” 

“Back off, Potter, or you’ll be dead before you can touch a hair on my head.” Without him noticing, Lily had managed to press a knife to his side. They were locked tight, the crew gasped, and Lily drew only the slightest amount of blood. Potter hissed but didn’t move an inch. Neither were ready to back down.

“Who are you, huh? One of Voldy’s?” Sirius asked, moving closer, probably to grab her knife. 

“Stop it!”, her voice turned an octave higher, and Sirius froze, “I’ll kill him, I swear to you I will.”

“Don’t.” She turned to Winky sharply, who had just stepped into the ring. “Just tell him.”

“Shut it.” Lily growled; her eyes once again locked with Potter’s. She spotted a glimmer of confusion in his dark irises, but it was drowned by the anger.

“Tell him or I will!”

“Fine!” Lily spit, clenching and loosening her fist rhythmically. “But first you drop your weapon.” James watched her for a second, eyes jumping form back and forth over her face, but she already knew he was going to refuse. 

“Lower yours.” The ocean breeze seemed to favor him, Lily thought, where it stroked his hair instead of slapping him in the face.

Lily scoffed, rolling her eyes at the mere suggestion. “Then you’ll just kill me.” she stated, pushing her dagger a bit further in a warning.

“Do I have a guarantee you won’t kill me?” His eyes were unflinching, but now maybe a bit softer, she couldn’t be certain.

“My word.” Lily lifted her chin proudly. Her word was something to trust… most of the time. She was lady after all, but Potter wouldn’t know that. He laughed mockingly. The sound was so forced it was painful to listen to. 

“The word of a traitor.” His mouth curled in a snarl. His glare was toxic, she wanted to flinch, but she didn’t, she couldn’t.

“Lower your weapon, Potter.” She hissed through clenched teeth. The sun turned the sea to a ferocious red as they stood there without blinking, locked in a silent fight that could only end in death. 

“She is Lily Evans.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James pondered at her question for a few seconds, he walked back to Remus and they whispered among each other while glancing up at Lily. She had just hooked a hand though the ladder and sat down on one of the ropes when James shouted back up to her; “You can have Sirius!”
> 
> “Me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Words: 2,1 K
> 
> Warning(s): None
> 
> A/N: A bit of backstory and explanations? Not all of it though. Also, feel free to interpret the summary any way you want haha.

It was Alice who had told the truth, Lily realized. Their eyes locked, Alice shrugged.

“How did you-?” Alice looked at Winky promptly, who in turn had the audacity to seem embarrassed. “Damn it,” -Lily stomped her foot to the deck with a thud- “you pirates can’t keep a secret for shit.”

In a split second of surprise James had loosened his grip on her, and Lily shoved her knee to his abdomen, a threatened look crossing her face.

Her secret was out.

She was cornered, and this, she realized, had just turned into a very dangerous situation.

As James stumbled back in recoil, Lily ran for the railing. The crew stumbled out of the way, no one thinking of stopping her. She climbed up the Jacob’s ladder, fear pulsating inside her. There was no way to go, nowhere to hide, and now he would kill her.

Her hat was gripped by the wind, she grabbed a hold of it, but it was already off. Lily placed the hat in her belt. Potter looked shell shocked, but now less angry than before.

“Come down Lily!” the Captain commanded firmly, “We need to talk about this.”

“I hold no value, my parents won’t pay you any bail and neither will he, so why don’t we just let this go and I can get off at the next stop.” Her voice broke at the end of the shout. Lily swallowed the embarrassment and hoped they didn't see her red cheeks.

“We can negotiate terms in my cabin.” Potter shouted up to her, waving for her to come down. 

Lily laughed loudly and angrily. 

“How do I know you won’t just kill me?” She tried to keep the fright out of her voice, but she knew that she couldn't stay in the ladder all week, and from the way he looked at her Lily figured she hadn't been entirely successful. 

James pondered at her question for a few seconds, he walked back to Remus and they whispered among each other while glancing up at Lily. She had just hooked a hand though the ladder and sat down on one of the ropes when James shouted back up to her; “You can have Sirius!”

“Me?”

“You know he is dear to me. You will have him at your mercy while we negotiate.”

Lily blinked. That was not a smart move, but if he were so sure in his negotiation abilities, she would not stop him. She watched as Sirius was discarded of all weapons and pointed out the small knife by his waist which he reluctantly removed. With a sharp nod that she was certain they would not be able to see, she slowly climbed back down to the deck, hooking her arm over his shoulder, and placing her knife calmly against his throat.

“I thought I liked you, runt.” Sirius muttered, clearly upset with the deal his Captain had made.

“You do.” Lily said simply and smiled a bit at his chuckle.

Potter’s office was a mess, the charts and maps that last time she was there had been gathered on his desk, was now scattered all around the room.

“We don’t have to make this harder than it is,” Lily watched, calculating her words as James turned away from her. “All I want is to get off at the next port,” she paused, and clarified; “safely.”

“Impossible.” Lily turned her head slightly to the right where Remus stood and gave him a death glare. He had uttered the word like it was obvious.

“No, it’s not.” Potter was looking out the window, hands behind his back, but Lily knew he was listening. “You just sail me to port and drop me off.”

“That is not what he meant,” Sirius muttered. Lily placed her knife against his throat so he could feel the cold metal. Sirius shut up.

“I would do that.” Potters words threw her off, and he turned around quickly enough to catch her surprised stare. As fast as her hope had risen, Lily realized that the words implied something else entirely. “But I can’t ensure your safety.”

Lily scoffed, “Just tell your crew to back off.” Mostly she figured she could take care of herself. She was not afraid of the crewmembers, but if someone managed to corner her… Lily almost shuttered at the idea.

“I’m not talking about my crew.” He rubbed his chin and swiftly turned back to his charts, “Have you heard of the prophecy?”

“What does a prophecy have to do with this?” Lily asked, clearly unimpressed at the change of topic. James looked at her for a while before he sighed.

“There is a rumored prophecy going around.” He gestured for Remus who in turn dug through some papers. He pulled out a particularly worn one and started reciting the words.

“ _A commander of the sea shall arise,_

_to banish the darkness, they must pay the price,_

_Gold or silver will never measure_

_to the power of the sea, the greatest treasure_

_Crucial it is to know the lore,_

_the ancient goddess, holder of the seashore._

_The briny deep, never owned by any man,_

_As a deity they shall rule beyond one lifespan.”_

The two men looked at her expectantly. Lily lifted her eyebrows at them, wondering what they were expecting, “You believe that this commander is, what? You?” Lily saw the corner of Potters mouth raise in a smirk.

“No. Voldemort believes that this commander the prophecy speaks about is predestined to be him.”

Lily was more confused than ever. She figured the Captain was after some kind of ransom, or at least information on which ships to attack. Lily did not doubt that she unconsciously had taken notes of the ships coming in and out of town, she would know valuable information. It was the only reasons she could think of as to why he had not killed her by now. He could have shot her down from the Jacob’s ladder, but here he was talking about a prophecy and the cruel island king? 

“What the hell are you on about?” Lily knew she was not in the position to talk like that. Remus were standing behind her; he could have his gun a centimetre from her cranium at this moment. But the Captain was getting on her nerves.

“He believes that you are the key to the power of the sea.” Potter was leaning back against his desk, watching her reaction. Lily blinked

“Me?” Lily’s train of thought stopped short.

“Yes, you.”

“That makes no sense.”

“You are aware that you were born out of wedlock?”

“No – I.” Lily tried to go through every conversation she ever had with her parents. Never had any unfaithfulness come up. She was the lady of El Puerto del Rey by blood. “That’s a lie.”

“It’s not.” Lily was startled to hear that Mad eye had slipped inside the Captains cabin. How he had managed to be so silent with that limp of his was beyond her. His staff went ‘thump, thump’ as he got close to her, and put a firm hand on her elbow. The message was clear.

To Potter’s great surprise, Lily reluctantly lowered her knife. Sirius stumbled away from her, not willing to spend another second near the fire headed woman.

“I knew your father once.” Mad eye hobbled to Potters desk, apparently taking it for granted that he could look at the papers. “A lady’s man, that one.” Lily shook her head, tears meekly springing to her eyes as her existence tumbled down around her. “Young, handsome..” Moody slumped down in a chair and took in Lily’s rattled appearance. “It never took anyone by a surprise when he claimed a child.” The old man gave a chuckle, and Lily was about to break down crying. “I figure you’ve got quite a few half siblings out there.” Wealthy men having mistresses had never been uncomon, but Lily could not have imagined her father…

“Enough, Moody.” Potter’s commanding voice sounded a little uncomfortable and more than a little angry. “Get to the point.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he waved at the air, as if swatting away a fly, “One day he left alone and came home with a baby girl.” Mad Eye gave her a long stare, and Lily understood that the baby was her. “That did take us by surprise.” He shrugged slightly, bending slightly to pick up a paper from the desk, “He claimed some, but never had he taken any home.”

“After many loud fights, his wife adopted her. The port was forbidden from speaking of her as anything but the daughter of the governor.” The chair made a groaning sound as he leaned back into it, gazing at the paper he had found. “But there was a curious little detail that few thought of.” Mad Eye tipped his head to the right as his eyes bore into her. 

“Your father left with his ship and crew, they were gone for about a week, he came back with a child.”

“So what?” Lily huffed, annoyed that he was dragging out her messed up backstory, “He met up with the whore he had been seeing and she had birthed me in his absence. It’s not that much of a mystery.”

“The ship never docked.” Potter said, gesturing to a yellow tinted sheet that was pinned up on the wall by his desk. When Lily walked closer, she saw that it was written by her father’s first mate. “They hit a ferocious storm a few days after leaving and had to turn back. The whole crew swore upon it.”

“Some believed the tale of a sea goddess’s daughter that started appearing along the coastline.” Moody's ominous voice stated.

“Others,” Remus started while rolling his eyes, “figured he bribed the crew.” He lifted his eyebrows in Moody’s direction, his exasperation clear as day, but the older man did not bat an eyelash.

“Either way,” Mad Eye said, clearly ignoring Remus, “The prophecy popped up a few months later, and now the people of Slytherin Island believe that Miss Evans is the key to ruling the seas. What is true or false does is of no matter.” Mad Eye’s indifferent attitude itched Lily the wrong way, but she forced her irritation down.

“You don’t really believe this crap, do you?” Lily looked at Remus. The lean man tilted his chin upwards, choosing not to answer. Lily turned towards Potter instead, who was scowling a little at Mad Eye. “The tale is false. You clearly do not believe it, so why would you even care what happens to me?”

“I don’t” Lily wondered if it was her imagination that convinced her he answered too fast. “But if Voldemort gets hold of you, the whole island will follow him to battle.”

“Who are they even going to fight?” Lily asked. Even the British kept away from the island.

“He hates the Brits, but he hates us more.” Potter seemed uncomfortable even talking about it. “What was it he said when you were there, Wormtail?”

Once again, a man had managed to sneak inside the room without Lily noticing. The man was short and plump in a homely way. His hair was a light mousy brown, and he ruffled it as his eyes regarded her with careful consideration. She had heard some call him Peter.

“He’ll rid the sea of scum and rule the islands with a steady hand. He believes it is what Spain needs.”

“It’s weird how he hates pirates, considering he is one himself.” Sirius said, looking for a second like he wanted to laugh. Then he turned his eyes to the sea and his laughter died before it reached his lips.

“He is not.” Wormtail said, eyes flickering to the ground in between looking at Sirius, “They are merchants.”

“I think you’ve been spending too much time with those snakes, Wormy,” Sirius looked back at Potter and they seemed to exchange silent information, “I need some air.” While Peter followed Sirius out, Lily tried to go over her options. She did not have many.

“The easiest way to make sure he does not get to me would be to…” She did not finish the sentence, but they all knew what she was implying. Potter frowned by his window, and Lily remembered suddenly the drawing of her younger self. She glanced over to Moody, who was still holding the paper and she thought for a second that she glimpsed a face in white and grey.

“That is not our way.” He said ‘ _our_ ’, but Lily felt the ‘ _my’_ vibrate in her bones. It was not solid, the answer Potter gave, and where she wanted rock foundation she was rewarded with glass. Easily broken if she slipped. But death had not yet gripped her, even if she could have sworn she felt him breathing down her neck. Lily did not know if the answer made her feel safer.

“What would you have me do?” She asked, as Moody and Remus left the room as well. Potter was pacing, he did not look entirely sure.

“We are visiting our wizard at the next port,” he says finally, “he will know.” And he seems so sure, it is hard to doubt him, had it not been for the words he uttered.

Lily almost laughs at the bizarre idea. “You have a wizard?” She snorts, looking at the Captain she might have feared once.

Potter chuckles, “It’s more like the wizard has a pirate crew.” 


End file.
